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Last Updated: Dec 28th, 2006 |
Another Gay Movie brings gay cinema into the testosterone-driven realm of Porky’s and American Pie. Like those comedies, Another Gay Movie features teen characters but aims for a strictly adult audience; in fact, writer/director Todd Stephens intentionally kept the movie unrated, knowing it wouldn’t receive an R-rating without losing some of his most outrageous footage.
However, instead of just making a gay copy of Porky’s and American Pie, Stephens playfully spoofs both movies. He also skewers gay favorites like The Broken Hearts Club, Queer As Folk, and the coming-out classic Edge of Seventeen.
Of course, Stephens also wrote and directed Edge of Seventeen. If his own baby isn’t safe from his demented imagination, nothing else in the gay community is safe. This movie writhes around, crashing gay pride parades, mocking exotic dancers, and winking at gay priests.
A couple of scenes are more gross than funny, many of the scenes are more amusing than they would sound if explained, and some allusions will go right over most people’s heads, but all of that happens because of an anything-for-a-laugh approach to film-making. The overall package not only succeeds as a comedy but provides a refreshing reply to uptight messages about how gay artists should or shouldn’t represent gays.
The soundtrack also includes an unlikely mixture: Nancy Sinatra, Shannon, Jimmy Somerville, and United State of Electronica, to name a few. The music always fits the scenes, though—if not for raciness or camp value, then just for a simple, driving beat.
A talented young cast plays the young gay men who set a familiar goal for the summer after graduation. Corpus Christi native Mitch Morris previously appeared in such TV shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ER, Queer As Folk, and the E-Ring. Morris and the actors playing his buddies all boast impressive credentials for such young actors; they also approach their roles with enthusiasm and convincing naiveté.
Stephanie McVay simultaneously spoofs her role as the homophobic mom in Edge of Seventeen and Sharon Gless’s role as the overly gay-friendly mom in Queer As Folk. Ashlie Atkinson (from Spike Lee’s thriller Inside Man) raucously sends up American Pie’s Stifler in her role as bull dyke Muffler. This film also includes appearances by some well-known and openly gay celebrities, such as stand-up comic Ant, Survivor winner Richard Hatch, Kids in the Hall star Scott Thompson, and a drag star of stage and screen…Lypsinka.
Despite Another Gay Movie’s irreverence, it stays light-hearted and even becomes sincerely romantic at times. Still, anyone who finds sexual humor offensive probably would (and should) avoid it anyway. Visit AnotherGayMovie.Com for cast notes, the trailer, cities and dates, etc.
Opening Friday, August 25, at Houston’s Angelika Film Center,
Duane Simolke, author, Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure; co-author, The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure and The Acorn Gathering: Writers Uniting Against Cancer.
Visit Duane Simolke's Homepage
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